Humble Pie
by Steffie1
Summary: Set after Mega Man Legends 2: A character reflected on a selfless choice he made, and the sacrifice he had to make. Implied Glyde x Denise.


Characters (c) CAPCOM

Berelf Island (c) Steffie

Humble Pie

It was a quiet morning in Gold City. A lone figure walked along the sidewalk. He wore a black trenchcoat with the collar up like Count Dracula's. He wore a black pants that looked a bit worn at the knees. His black boots made an echo wherever he stepped. Even though it was a warm day, a caramel-coloured scarf draped over his neck. The only hint of his bottle-green poloneck would be the neck part that stuck out a bit.

The man walked with a bit of unease, his white walking cane tapped the sidewalk before him. He still wasn't used to the walking cane, or the black sunglasses he wore nowadays since his blindness. Unknown to him, his usually well-groomed hairdo was all frizzy and unkempt. He wouldn't really care either way. What's the use of looking decent, when you only did it to please yourself?

The man stopped when his walking cane tapped on a door. His bare hand gingerly reached out to search for the doorknob. He couldn't find any. Frustrated, he stomped his foot on the floor. He jumped in fright when he heard the door swung open. He felt himself blush when he realized it was actually a door that opened when you push it from the inside.  
"Come in, sir. Sorry for not opening the door for your earlier." a child-like voice apologized. The man could've sworn he heard the voice from somewhere before, but not because he visited this coffee-shop for the last week.

The man made his way to a nearby chair with clumsiness. He sighed in relief when he finally sat. He couldn't believe how hard it was to simply walk to the nearest coffe-shop when blind.  
"Your order, please?" the child-like voice asked.  
"Your bottom-less espresso, and a chocolate-chip muffin, please." he smiled friendily. He wasn't used to acting like this, but Denise did tell him to act all friendly and act-of-character to avoid being identified.  
"Coming right up, sir." the childish voice said with a smile in his voice.

Glyde sighed as he listened to the footsteps fade away. Why did he return to Rhyship Island for a vacation? Why didn't he return to work after he worked with the Bonnes? Why did he save that police lady from that fire? Thanks to his good deed, something hot flew into his eye. His only seeing eye. Denise, the police lady's name, took him to the doctor right away. The doctor told him he might be blind for a few months, a few years or...forever.

Denise allowed him to stay in her house while he slowly adjusted to being blind. He hated being babied by her, but he couldn't fly back to Berelf Island or to where Mr. Loathe's stayed at the moment. He didn't want Denise, or any one else, to know where he lived. No, he refused to ask anyone to fly him back home. It was bad enough he had to ask Denise if he could use her phone to phone his parents.

"When you do good things, good things would happen to you." Glyde heard his mother's words echo in his mind. Glyde forced a laugh.  
'But Mommy, you never told me I might be blinded for life after doing my good deed.' Glyde bit his lip. He remembered the doctor told him he could regain his sight if he underwent surgery. He refused to get a cybernetic eye. Call it vanity, but he would rather be blind. Same with his other eye. He was born blind in the one eye, but he would rather hide this handicap with his fringe curtained over it.

"Your espresso and chocolate-chip muffin, sir." The person said with a smile. Glyde noticed he could almost hear people make facial expressions. He could sometimes sense their emotions too. His four senses became so strong. But, Glyde knew he was vulnerable to any attack. He was never a strong fighter, more depended on his speed. Now, he couldn't use either. That's why Denise usually accompanied him whenever he wanted to go out. He's very impressed when she told him that she once used some type of martial arts move to throw the Gustaff.

Glyde slowly aimed the rim of the espresso cup to his lips. He took a small sip. The espresso was delicious. Not too strong, nor too weak. He loved going to this coffee-shop. It's around the corner from Denise's house, and the area's safe enough to walk alone.  
"No. 40, you must go and ask the customer if he enjoyed his espresso and chocolate-chip muffin." Glyde heard another child-like voice. He cocked his eyebrow in thought. That voice sounded familiar as well. He shrugged his shoulders and took a giant chomp out of the muffin.

After ten minutes, the waiter brought the bill.  
"How much is the bill ?"  
"It's 500 zenny, sir." No. 40 replied. Glyde took his wallet out and gave the servbot 700 zenny. Not counting the money, the person left.  
"..." Glyde wondered if he should ask for a second cup of espresso. He had nothing else to do, and Denise was at work. Glyde was so deep in thought, he didn't hear a deep voice that told him he gave too much change. Glyde jumped out of his chair when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He landed hard on the floor, face first.  
"Sorry, sir. You okay?" Teisel asked the man as he leaned down to help him up.  
"I'm fine..." Glyde groaned. He felt himself being pulled off the floor and sat back into his chair. Glyde's face paled when he realized who it was.

"..." Glyde wished a blackhole would appear from under his chair and suck him in, then disappear for all of eternity. He quickly shoved his 200 zenny back into his wallet, then pushed the wallet back into his pocket. He refused to make any eye contact.  
"Glyde? Is that you?" Teisel sounded confused, then he growled with pure venom,"What are you here for"  
"Espresso and muffin. Your coffee-shop have delicious beverages and food."  
"Don't lie to me." Teisel warned as he grabbed him by the upper-arm. Teisel was a bit take aback when he noticed how thin Glyde's arm was.  
"I'm not. I'm here on vacation. If I wanted to seek revenge on you, my entire birdbot army would be here. I would also be in my battle armour, not casual clothes." Glyde tried to sound as calm as possible, but had a quiver in his voice. He was terrified that Teisel might hurt him. No one else knew that Glyde was blind, and he doubt Teisel would believe him if he said so. Besides, he and Teisel were sworn enemies...

"Well, Servbot 1, 3, 16, 17, and 35 have told me yesterday that they could've sworn you came to Servbot Cafe quite a few times already. Not once had you hurt, or tried to hurt, any of the servbots. So, I'll believe you for now." Teisel let go of Glyde's arm, but decided to watch his every move. "Truce? Act like long-time buddies, until I leave this island?" Glyde asked, still nervous.  
"Truce. We're only on Rhyship Island for our business. It's doing quite well so far"  
"That's good. You can ask me anything you'd like to know about me." Glyde gave him a weak smile. To his surprise, he heard Teisel sat on the chair opposite of Glyde. Either Teisel wanted his company, or he wanted to make Glyde won't do any funny business. Or maybe he wanted to ask a question.

"So, why do you always call Lex Loathe 'Mr Loathe'? Aren't you both family?" Teisel asked the one question that had bugged him.  
"Mr. Loathe and I aren't family"  
"Then why are you known as 'Glyde of the Loathe family"  
"Mafia's family; in one form or another. My real name's Glyde Ayanokoji. But, don't tell Mr. Loathe that. He and my father are bitter enemies"  
"How old are you"  
"Seventeen. Worked with Mr. Loathe since I was twelve." Glyde shrugged his shoulders as he turned his head around to stare at nothingness. He felt a bit uneasy as she tried to stare where he believed Teisel's eyes were. He felt Teisel's eyes bore a hole through his head from his staring.

"What?" Glyde demanded. What did he do now?  
"I know you're only three years older than my sister, but stop staring at her in such an ungentleman-like manner"  
"..." Glyde blushed when he realized what he had done. Glyde heard Tron sprint out of the coffee-shop as she mentioned something about a plan that would get MegaMan off of some place.  
"Never knew you liked her"  
"I don't. She's not my type!" Glyde waved his hands frantically in front of him.  
"What's wrong with my sister"  
"Nothing. I'm just interested in someone else." Glyde lied.

"Who?"  
"Denise Marmalade, that police lady." Glyde could just kick himself. He and Denise were only friends. Glyde heard Teisel chuckle under his breath.

"Yeah, and Tron likes that Blue Boy." Teisel laughed loudly.  
"It's funny how love works, huh?" Glyde asked as he tried to search for his walking cane without Teisel noticing. He got up and tried to walk like a seeing person. The servbot opened the door for him.  
"Good bye! I'll be seeing you tomorrow, and the day after that. I might even see you every single day this month." Glyde said with mockingness as he tried to sound like his old cocky self. He wiped his fringe out of the way in cockiness, turned around to walk out of the door. He tripped over his own feet, and fell hard. He quickly got up, dusted himself off and used his walking cane with reluctence, which peaked Teisel's interest.  
"Take care." Servbot no. 40 waved goodbye. He closed the door when Glyde stepped outside.

"I told you it was Glyde!" One of the servbots piped up, unaware that Teisel pondered why Glyde acted so strange and out-of-character...

THE END


End file.
